


All about the mistletoe

by evakuality



Category: Druck | SKAM (Germany)
Genre: M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28566450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evakuality/pseuds/evakuality
Summary: When Matteo finds some mistletoe while cleaning, it sparks some conversation between him and David.
Relationships: Matteo Florenzi/David Schreibner
Comments: 10
Kudos: 50





	All about the mistletoe

They’re cleaning up the flatshare just after New Year, which strikes Matteo as a completely ridiculous time to do it, but Mia has returned from Madrid again and taken up residence in their lives and in her old room. Unfortunately, she also brought back a penchant for everything to be perfect and perfectly in its place. Hans picked the idea up with a delighted cry that they should have a party now everyone’s back again and since the flat will be beautifully spick and span.

So Matteo now finds himself up on various chairs and forced to wipe down every single door frame in the place. That wouldn’t be a problem, usually. Matteo’s perfectly willing to help out if someone gives him directions and a job to do. Even if he thinks cleaning on _top_ of the door is going a little too far, he’ll do it to make Mia happy.

No, what makes this particular little escapade mildly unbearable is the fact that Linn had surprisingly agreed with Mia and so she and her girlfriend are here. Which means that for some reason the universe has decided to play a joke on Matteo. Because Laura has brought her brother. And _that’s_ the problem. Because David is the most attractive person Matteo has ever laid eyes on, and he always becomes a flustered mess whenever he’s nearby.

So of course, Hans decided that the two of them should work together, because, “you’re the same age and have so much in common, my little butterfly,” and that was that. Matteo swipes angrily at the painted door frame as he thinks about it. He’s almost certain that Hans puts them together like this because he enjoys seeing Matteo flustered and squirming. Matteo’s painfully aware that he blushes and mutters his way through every encounter with an attractive guy in a way that’s never subtle. And with David it’s worse, because David is funny and charming along with being so damn hot Matteo can’t focus when he’s near. David is the whole package, and Matteo may have pictured them as boyfriends in some of his wildest dreams. 

Matteo’s reasonably sure that Hans doesn’t know the depth of his interest in David, but he does have an unfortunate tendency to throw Matteo into the path of gorgeous guys because he thinks exposure to them will help Matteo get over being a stuttery mess. The upshot is that David is humming cheerfully as he cleans the lower half of the door, far too near to Matteo for his comfort. His voice is soft and melodic and Matteo keeps being drawn away from his own work to glance downwards.

The light from the window streams in and glints off David’s hair, burnishing the dark curls with soft highlights. David looks up at Matteo and his face splits into a devastating grin, the movement highlighting the piercing that may have starred in a couple of Matteo’s fantasies. He swallows, and drags his eyes away, overwhelmed by the way David looks.

To cover for his confused embarrassment, Matteo rubs vigorously at the top of the door. It dislodges something brittle, and a soft woody smell hits him just as a small bundle slips off top of the frame and swings down in front of his face. Matteo curses, startled, and would have slipped backwards off the chair he’s on if it wasn’t for David’s firm hands warm on the back of his legs. It’s distracting enough that Matteo forgets to move away, so those fingers linger for a few moments.

Eventually, he recalls himself and squints up at the object that has swung down into his face.

“Mistletoe,” David says, nodding at the small bundle of dried and cracked leaves and berries as if in emphasis. Matteo tugs on it, hoping it’s pinned in weakly enough to dislodge completely.

Matteo grimaces and steps down off the chair, knowing he’s going to have to get some sort of tool to pry the thing out of the frame. From experience, Matteo knows Hans hammers these bundles in firmly, and they’re tricky to get out, so it was a vain hope that he’d be able to just pull it down.

“There’s a tradition associated with mistletoe,” David says, and Matteo is once again startled as he finds himself inches away from David when he spins at the words. They’re so close that he can smell the subtle cologne David favours, earthy and fresh, and he can see every one of his lashes fanned out against his skin as he blinks.

Sucking in a breath, Matteo manages a shaky laugh, trying to act like he’s not affected by what could easily be a joke. “I’m not sure it counts if it’s all dried up and flaking apart,” he retorts.

David’s smile slips for a moment before he shrugs and tilts his head to examine Matteo, and whatever he sees on Matteo’s face makes that smile slip back into place. “I think it can count if the people want it to.”

There’s a look in his eyes now, one Matteo has occasionally thought meant something when they’ve been together in the past, but always dismissed as wishful thinking. But here, with David so close that his breath whispers over Matteo’s cheek, and with his voice so warm and filled with _something,_ Matteo thinks he might not have imagined it previously. 

“Do the people want it to be?” he whispers, his voice hoarse as his heart hammers in his chest. He can’t quite believe that all the things he’s wished for every time he and David have been together might be coming true. He’s not willing to give in to it until he knows for sure.

Keeping his eyes on Matteo, David nods. “Yeah,” he says, “I think they do.”

He reaches out and cups Matteo’s cheek with his hand, fingers roughened by the work he’s been doing. It’s that feeling that brings home to Matteo that this is _real_ and _happening._ In none of his dreams had he ever imagined something as real as calloused fingers.

His eyes close as he’s overwhelmed by the moment. But he reaches up, allows his fingers to touch David’s. The mistletoe is dry and broken above their heads, twisted unnaturally into an awkward shape because it’s been wedged on top of the door for so long it’s dried misshapen. It should, perhaps, be a warning to think about the fleeting nature of these connections. That even things that are filled with promise can wither and die. Mistletoe has a certain mystique; it serves a purpose in bringing people together, but this is a warning maybe that what it provides can’t last.

David seems to sense something of that thought because his hand slips behind Matteo’s head and draws him closer.

“I want it,” he says. “I think you do too. Regardless of mistletoe, I want it. Do you?”

He waits there for a moment, allowing Matteo the space to accept the offer. Matteo glances up at the small bundle above them. The jaunty ribbon tying it together is still perfect, glistening with gold thread as it slowly turns in the air. The mistletoe may be dead, it says, but it fulfilled its role. Everything grows and changes, one’s purpose is filled and another takes its place. And however fleeting, the mistletoe held beauty, promise, love, laughter in its leaves. And that’s what really matters. To have a full life, making the most of a short time on the planet. Mistletoe can’t tell him what he wants or what he should do, Matteo realises. _He_ has to do that. _He_ has to take the leap and fulfill his own promise.

Matteo looks back at David. His heart is still hammering and he and he still feels flustered. But there’s something in David’s eyes that says he feels all that too and _his_ heart, when Matteo puts a hand on his chest, is beating just as fast and erratically. As if he too knows this isn’t about mistletoe at all. Somehow that gives him the courage to nod his agreement, and whisper, “yeah I do.”

David pulls him in then, and as their lips connect, Matteo forgets everything else. None of the rest of it is important. He pulls David in closer, deepens the kiss. For however long he has it, he thinks this is worth it. The mistletoe, misshapen and twisted, fulfills its promise once again, swinging silently above them as their lips meet over and over in an ongoing promise. 


End file.
